Record of achievement: New show puts spotlight on art of James Flora

Christina Hennessy

Published 12:52 pm, Thursday, February 27, 2014

Photo: Contributed Photo

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"Smokestack" acrylic painting by artist James Flora will be among the works at new exhibition that opns March 2, 2014, at the Rowayton Arts Center in Rowayton, Conn. It celebrates the 100th anniversary of Flora's birth. Flora, who died in 1998, left behind a rich collection of art and children's books. His son, Joel, will talk about his father's life and art at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the center, which is located at 145 Rowayton Ave. For more information, visit www.rowaytonartscenter.org. less

"Smokestack" acrylic painting by artist James Flora will be among the works at new exhibition that opns March 2, 2014, at the Rowayton Arts Center in Rowayton, Conn. It celebrates the 100th anniversary of ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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James Flora's whimsical map of Rowayton, Conn., featured the many sights and scenes he encountered as a longtime resident of this section of Norwalk, Conn. This work and others will be on display at the Portside Gallery of the Rowayton Arts Center from March 2 to 22, 2014. For more information, visit www.rowaytonartscenter.org or call 203-866-2744. less

James Flora's whimsical map of Rowayton, Conn., featured the many sights and scenes he encountered as a longtime resident of this section of Norwalk, Conn. This work and others will be on display at the ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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James Flora, a longtime resident of Rowayton, Conn., enjoyed a long career as an artist, illustrating record labels and children's books, as well as creating a large body of fine art work. Some of the late artist's pieces will be on display from March 2 to 22, 2014, at the Rowayton Arts Center in Rowayton, Conn. For more information, call 203-866-2744. less

James Flora, a longtime resident of Rowayton, Conn., enjoyed a long career as an artist, illustrating record labels and children's books, as well as creating a large body of fine art work. Some of the late ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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"Grandpa's Ghost Stories" was one of a number of books artist James Flora illustrated and wrote. Contributed photo

"Grandpa's Ghost Stories" was one of a number of books artist James Flora illustrated and wrote. Contributed photo

Photo: Contributed Photo

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This is one of a number of album covers created by artist James "Jim" Flora, who spent most of his life creating his art and raising a family in Rowayton, Conn. The late artist's work will be celebrated during a centennial anniversary of his birth at the Rowayton Arts Center beginning on March 2, 2014. less

This is one of a number of album covers created by artist James "Jim" Flora, who spent most of his life creating his art and raising a family in Rowayton, Conn. The late artist's work will be celebrated during ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

Record of achievement: New show puts spotlight on art of James Flora

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As he settled back into his couch, Joel Flora's gaze settled on a painting hanging on the wall across from him.

"It astounds me that he could do something that precise," he said, of the long, narrow canvas featuring one of the many ocean liners and cruise ships his late father James "Jim" Flora painted throughout the 1980s.

Rows upon rows of windows and portholes were carefully painted, complementing the many figures stationed on the deck. In this and other such works, couples smooch, well-dressed ladies wave handkerchiefs and children scale the railings to gain a better vantage point. Sometimes, Flora would ensure those who looked a tad more closely -- often with a magnifying glass -- got more than they bargained for, as the tiny figures were not always so chaste.

"He took great joy in life," said Joel Flora of his father, who died in 1998. "He adored people; he loved his friends and he really had an energy about him."

On Sunday, March 2, "The Amazing Art of Jim Flora" will open at the Rowayton Arts Center in Norwalk, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Flora's birth. About a dozen large pieces that represent just a part of Flora's long career will be displayed. Joel Flora, who is the show's curator, plans to talk about his father's life and work during an opening reception on March 2.

"It was quite an interesting place to grow up," said Joel, of the Rowayton section of Norwalk in the 1950s and '60s. It was there, in the Bell Island community that his parents (his mom Jane also was an artist) would raise a family, pursue art careers and become founding members of the Rowayton Arts Center, where Joel serves on the board.

"They both painted every single day," Joel Flora said of his parents, who spent most of their days in their home studio. "In many ways, our house was like a museum. Growing up, there was artwork all over the place. At the time, we didn't think too much about it."

Throughout his career, James Flora's talent brought pop to all manner of products, publications and creative pursuits. A 1939 graduate of the Academy of Cincinnati, Flora, who was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, started his art career early, launching Little Man Press with writer Robert Lowry, for which he supplied illustrations and design for limited-edition publications. Later, as a commercial illustrator, he created cover and inside illustrations for top magazines, including Fortune, Newsweek and Life magazines. As a children's author, he illustrated and wrote 17 children's books, including many that remain on the shelves of area libraries, such as "The Day The Cow Sneezed," "Grandpa's Farm," "Grandpa's Ghost Stories" and "The Fabulous Firework Family," which was largely inspired by the family's brief artistic sojourn to Mexico from 1950-51.

Nina Pallesen Craig, who was a longtime friend of Jane and James Flora when they lived in Rowayton, said the latter had a talent to make a serious subject a bit more fun -- which came in handy while working for a publication such as Fortune.

"He would illustrate some sort of financial situation or problem with crazy drawings ... the money would go in there and come out some other place," she said, chuckling. "It was a way to soften up the dry information."

Flora picked up many more fans over the years for his unique and iconic cover art for jazz and classical album covers for Columbia Records and RCA Victor during the 1940s and '50s. One such fan is Irwin Chusid, who is co-author (along with Barbara Economon) of four books published by Fantagraphics Books about the artist, including the most recent "The High Fidelity Art of Jim Flora," which came out in September. Chusid, a longtime radio personality, writer and music historian, can trace his appreciation of Flora's work back to the 1970s, when, one day, he picked up a copy of the RCA Victor album "Inside Sauter-Finegan" at a tag sale. The cover features a surrealistic looking pair as they bop about with their toothy grins. It employs the kind of comic distortion that gave so many of Flora's album covers a distinct energy. Since then, Chusid has become an expert on the artist, collecting works and serving as custodian of the Flora family's holdings. He also manages the www.jimflora.com website.

Chusid said he remains fascinated by Flora's talent and the imagination behind the works.

"I never tire of looking at them," said Chusid, who plans to present even more of Flora's work in a show later this year at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan. "Jim wanted to create a little piece of excitement and he succeeded in many cases with me."

Until his death at age 84, Flora continued his craft, returning to the more abstract style of his younger years and creating distinctive woodcuts and prints. It was also in Jim's later years that he learned of the many collectors and fans of his work, as well as the artists he had come to inspire.

"He had no idea he was going to be followed by so many people until right before he died," Flora said. Contemporary artists such as Mike Bartalos and J.D. King have cited him as an influence, as does his son. "He encouraged me to pursue my art," said Joel, who recently began working more earnestly on his own pieces, realistic oil portraits. But this year, it will be his father's work that gets the attention.

"He had an extremely fertile imagination," he said. "I don't know when he found time to do all this."